(Rome 1642–1707)
An architectural capriccio with the Death of Livestock - Fifth plague of Egypt; and An architectural capriccio with Joseph and his brothers in front of the Pharaoh,
oil on canvas, each 114 x 149 cm, framed (2)

Provenance:
with Galleria Giamblanco, Turin;
Private European collection

Literature:
G. Sestieri, Il capriccio architettonico in Italia nel XVII e il XVIII secolo, Roma 2015, pp. 214-215, fig. 24a-24b, (as ‘attributed to Domenico Roberti’)

We are grateful to David Marshall for confirming the attribution to Domenico Roberti on the basis of high resolution digital photographs.

The present paintings are characteristic examples of the production of Domenico Roberti. The main group of works attributed to him, in the Galleria Spada, Rome shows clear similarities to the work of Giovanni Ghisolfi, though many of Roberti´s other paintings are similar to those of the Codazzi.

Roberti´s characteristic handling and treatment of composition is one reflected in the depiction of the trees in one of the present compositions, which is closely related to the Landscape with ruins in the Galleria Spada, Rome (inv. 187). The blackish shadows too, are typical of Roberti, for which he took ideas and solutions from other architectural painters, such as Alberto Carlieri. The work depicting the arched portico, echoes Codazzi without, however being too closely based on his oeuvre. The other composition with it baroque sense of form also has elements which derive from Bolognese architectural painters.

The first canvas depicts The Fifth plague of Egypt during which, according to the biblical Book of Exodus (Exodus 9:1–3), the God of Israel inflicted upon Egypt to persuade the Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. This plague was an epizootic disease which exterminated Egyptian livestock. The other canvas represents Joseph and his brothers in front of the Palace of the Pharaoh.

After the death of Giovanni Ghisolfi (1623-1683), Domenico Roberti became the dominant protagonist of the genre of architectural painting in Rome in the second half of the 17th Century preceding Giovanni Paolo Panini